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88-498: Peter Senerchia (born October 11, 1967), better known by the ring name Taz (also spelled Tazz ), is an American radio personality , color commentator , and retired professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a color commentator for AEW Dynamite and manager . Beginning his career in 1987, began his rise to prominence after joining Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW, later Extreme Championship Wrestling ) in 1993 as The Tazmaniac . In late-1995, following

176-570: A belly-to-back suplex followed by a moonsault , then pinned him to become the new Heavyweight Champion. The tenth bout was a singles match between Chad Austin and Jimmy Snuka . Snuka defeated Austin by pinfall following a slingshot suplex . The penultimate bout was a steel cage match between Abdullah the Butcher and Kevin Sullivan that was won by Sullivan. The main event was another steel cage match, this one featuring Badd Company,

264-403: A kutte underneath his coat, turning heel again in the process. Following his revelation, Aces & Eights ambushed the ceremony and attacked Ray, his groomsmen Tommy Dreamer and Brother Runt and Brooke's father Hulk Hogan . The following week on Impact Wrestling , Taz revealed that he joined Aces & Eights because of his desire to be a member of a group that adheres to a higher power. On

352-439: A one-night eight-man tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship , losing to Shane Douglas in the quarter-finals. The Tazmaniac was put out of action by a legit injury for much of 1995. On July 20, during a tag team match 2 Cold Scorpio and Dean Malenko delivered a spike piledriver to him, and though he knew it was about to be performed, he did not have time to properly protect himself. As he explained on

440-518: A schoolboy . The eighth bout was a "no disqualification, no count out" match between Sabu and the Tazmaniac , both of whom were making their debuts in ECW. Sabu won the match by pinning the Tazmaniac following a moonsault . The ninth bout saw ECW Tag Team Champions Johnny Hotbody and Tony Stetson defend their titles against Badd Company. Hotbody and Stetson defeated Badd Company to retain

528-641: A steel cage match . Funk defeated Snuka to win the Championship by climbing out of the cage. NWA Bloodfest: Part 2 was held on October 2, 1993 in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania in the United States. It was attended by approximately 400 people. In the opening bout, ECW Tag Team Champions Johnny Hotbody and Tony Stetson defended their titles against J.T. Smith and

616-565: A tattoo of the Looney Tunes character Tasmanian Devil on his upper right biceps, which he states he got after being inspired by an identical tattoo sported by Road Warrior Animal . He also has a self-designed tattoo on his left lower bicep. Senerchia played high school football , as well as in college, playing for the LIU Post Pioneers . He also studied judo prior to entering the professional wrestling circuit, reaching

704-477: A bout between them later that evening. The third bout was a tag team match pitting the Public Enemy against Gino Caruso and Silver Jet. The Public Enemy won the bout by pinfall following a senton bomb by Rocco Rock . The fourth bout was a singles match in which Malia Hosaka defeated Molly McShane by pinfall following a senton bomb. The fifth bout was a tag team match between Badd Company and

792-559: A double champion when he also won the Television Championship for one night in March 1994. For most of the rest of the year he floated around the tag ranks, teaming with different partners. He held the title once more, this time with Sabu , until Sabu was legitimately fired by ECW owner Paul Heyman for no-showing an event in favor of touring Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling . In August 1994, The Tazmaniac competed in

880-465: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked

968-632: A match against Shane Douglas and Chris Candido. Taz would ultimately lose the title to Bam Bam Bigelow at Living Dangerously on March 1, 1998. After losing the World Television Championship, Taz was elevated into the World Heavyweight Championship picture. In May 1998, with Shane Douglas injured and unable to wrestle, Taz was given an old World Television Championship belt painted orange—his trademark color—and began cutting promos , declaring himself

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1056-465: A mini-feud with Rob Van Dam, dominating him in every match and was also out for a short time to get surgery on his injured shoulder. As 1996 ended and 1997 began, Taz and Sabu continued to try getting at one another, with no actual contact. On February 24, 1997, Taz defeated Mikey Whipwreck on WWF Monday Night Raw as part of the ECW Invasion. Early in 1997, the antagonism between Sabu and Taz

1144-575: A new look and wrestling style. The new character had him clad in a black and orange singlet and exhibiting a more physically intense in-ring style, focusing his offense on mat wrestling and suplexes (inspired by working with The Steiner Brothers), which announcer Joey Styles dubbed Taz-Plexes , earning him the nickname "The Human Suplex Machine". He also debuted his Tazmission /Katahajime finishing maneuver, causing opponents to tap out to signal their submission as in mixed martial arts instead of nodding their head or vocally saying "yes". This quirk

1232-785: A playable character in ECW Hardcore Revolution , WWF No Mercy , WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role , WWE WrestleMania X8 (video game) , WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It , WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth , WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 . Ring name Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or

1320-614: A second-degree black belt. He is a supporter of the New York Mets , New York Knicks , Philadelphia 76ers , New York Islanders , and the Buffalo Bills . In September 1998, Senerchia was arrested on charges of indecent exposure and contributing to the delinquency of a child after allegedly exposing himself to a 15 year-old salon worker during a massage. The charges were dropped in October 1999. Beginning in 2018, Senerchia

1408-410: A severe neck injury, he shortened his ring name to "Taz" and adopted the persona of a belligerent shoot fighter who dismantled opponents with an array of suplexes before forcing them to submit with the " Tazmission ". During his time in ECW, Taz was a two-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion , a two-time ECW World Television Champion , a three-time ECW World Tag Team Champion , a two-time (and

1496-437: A third brand, ECW , was introduced in 2006, at which point he became the color commentator for that show. He was also the co-host, with Joey Styles, of History of Extreme Championship Wrestling on WWE 24/7 Classics , a show that re-aired archived episodes of the original ECW's weekly television programs. Before and during episodes he and Styles provide insight into the storylines, inner workings, and general ambiance of ECW at

1584-559: A title unification match at the Living Dangerously pay-per-view, where Taz defeated Sabu to unify the FTW Heavyweight Championship into the World Heavyweight Championship. He would begin his next rivalry with Chris Candido, whom he defeated to retain the title at CyberSlam . The two were scheduled to a rematch at Hardcore Heaven , which Taz quickly won. However, he was attacked by Dudley Boyz after

1672-754: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It

1760-442: A while, some of the students, including Mako and Chris Chetti , would accompany Taz and Alfonso to the ring as a faction known as Team Taz. At November to Remember , things seemed to come full circle, as Taz stormed to the ring and interrupted Styles and "stole Paul E.'s thunder" by announcing that there would be a "big show in the first quarter of the new year", basically telling the fans in attendance that ECW's first pay-per-view

1848-646: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by

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1936-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It

2024-558: The FTW Heavyweight Champion at It Ain't Seinfeld . Though the championship was unsanctioned in storyline , it was defended at ECW shows until Douglas was healthy. Just before winning the World Heavyweight Championship, Taz "gave" the FTW Heavyweight Title to long-time foe Sabu in a match where he physically pulled Sabu on top of him to allow him to get the pin. Taz finally defeated Shane Douglas for

2112-481: The Philadelphia -based promotion Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) in October 1993 at NWA Bloodfest . He formed a tag team with Joe Chetti (brother of Chris Chetti ) called The Tazmaniacs. When that team broke up, he was put into another team with Kevin Sullivan , with whom he won the Tag Team Championship twice. During his second reign as Tag Team Champion with Sullivan, The Tazmaniac became

2200-611: The Tazmission , is a Katahajime judo chokehold. He also sometimes combined this submission with a suplex, creating a half nelson choke suplex, called the Tazmission-Plex . He has also claimed to have named the T-Bone Suplex. When Taz was signed by WWF, other wrestlers complained to Vince McMahon about his style, calling him dangerous and didn't want to work with him. However, Kurt Angle defended Taz, saying that "Taz

2288-485: The Tazmission , only to have his manager Bill Alfonso turn on him and join Sabu and his partner Rob Van Dam . In response, Taz began teaming with Chris Candido to face Sabu and Van Dam. Two months later at Wrestlepalooza , Taz lost to Sabu in the rematch, marking his first loss since 1995. However, later in the night, he won the World Television Championship from Shane Douglas to begin his second reign. He defended

2376-602: The WWF Tag Team Championship , holding it for over a month before losing it to Billy and Chuck . When World Wrestling Entertainment split into two brands , Tazz was put on the WWF SmackDown! brand, where he resumed his color commentator duties. Not long after he retired from the ring in June 2002, and he became a full-time broadcaster. He co-hosted SmackDown! for World Wrestling Entertainment until

2464-485: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and

2552-737: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and

2640-579: The Bad Breed. Badd Company won the bout when Paul Diamond pinned Ian Rotten following a belly to belly suplex . The sixth bout was a singles match in which the Sandman defeated Metal Maniac by pinfall following a diving clothesline . The seventh bout was a six man tag team match pitting Abdullah the Butcher , J.T. Smith and Terry Funk against Don Muraco , Jimmy Snuka , and Kevin Sullivan . The match ended when Smith pinned Muraco using

2728-515: The Championship after Rocco Rock interfered in the match by attacking Paul Diamond, enabling Stetson to pin him. The tenth bout was a singles match between Rockin' Rebel and Chris Michaels. Rockin' Rebel won the bout by pinning Michaels after striking him with a foreign object . The penultimate bout was a singles match between Kevin Sullivan and Abdullah the Butcher. The match ended in a no contest. The main event saw ECW Television Champion Jimmy Snuka defend his title against Terry Funk in

Taz (wrestler) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2816-463: The DVD documentary The Rise and Fall of ECW , "I landed right on my forehead and just jacked my whole neck back and that was it." The neck injury was so bad that, according to Tommy Dreamer , hospital staff couldn't believe he'd walked into the hospital where he sought help after the match. Though he was unable to wrestle, Paul Heyman continued to pay him per their oral agreement, forging a loyalty between

2904-583: The ECW World Heavyweight Championship at CyberSlam , Tazz was placed into contention for the WWF Intercontinental Championship , but he never won the title. In the summer, after taking time off for an arm injury, he turned heel and placed into a feud with color commentator Jerry Lawler . The feud included matches at SummerSlam and Unforgiven , which they split. Tazz was only able to pick up

2992-599: The January 1, 2020 episode of AEW Dynamite , Taz made his Dynamite debut on commentary filling in for Tony Schiavone . On January 16, 2020, it was announced that Taz had officially signed a multi-year deal with AEW, and he was made a member of the AEW broadcast team. At Double or Nothing on May 20, 2020, Taz accompanied newcomer Brian Cage to the ring during the Casino Ladder Match and in what appeared to be

3080-511: The November 21 episode of Impact Wrestling , Aces & Eights was forced to disband after Bully Ray lost to Mr. Anderson , which also saw Anderson retain his career in TNA. On April 15, 2015, it was officially announced that Taz had departed TNA. Three days later on April 18, 2015, Taz stated that what led to his TNA departure was "that he was asked for his release and he got it and said that it

3168-444: The Public Enemy . Badd Company won the bout when Paul Diamond pinned Rocco Rock after Johnny Grunge accidentally hit him. The sixth bout saw Chris Michaels face Rockin' Rebel in a rematch from the prior night. Michaels defeated Rockin' Rebel by disqualification after Rockin' Rebel attacked the referee. The seventh bout was a tag team match pitting the Bad Breed against Don E. Allen and Chad Austin . The Bad Breed won

3256-411: The Sandman . Hotbody and Stetson retained their titles after The Sandman and Smith were disqualified following interference from Terry Funk . In the second bout, The Tazmaniac defeated the debuting Tommy Dreamer by pinfall following a super Northern Lights suplex . The match saw Dreamer kicked out of multiple pinfall attempts, leading to him receiving a standing ovation from the audience after

3344-760: The Titantron during various entrances, and the arena would be shrouded in Tazz's signature orange color. Tazz made his in-ring debut in January 2000 at Madison Square Garden at the 2000 Royal Rumble as the surprise opponent of the previously undefeated Kurt Angle , who he defeated with the Tazzmission . Just a few months after Tazz arrived in the WWF, Mike Awesome , the man he had lost the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to at Anarchy Rulz , secretly signed with WCW. Legal wrangling by Paul Heyman prevented Awesome from taking

3432-556: The Unforgiven win when he received help from Raven , who had returned to the company. Afterwards, the duo formed a tag team that lasted until November. When the Invasion angle began, Tazz acted as "the voice of The Alliance ", sticking up for them and speaking on their behalf whenever possible. Over the next few weeks, he'd be beaten up by Stone Cold Steve Austin , made out as the weak link and "the example" needed to be made to

3520-500: The World Heavyweight Championship at Guilty as Charged , thus ending Douglas' year-long reign. Taz was supposed to defend the title against Chris Candido in his first televised title defense at House Party but Douglas attacked Candido before the match and took his place, whom Taz defeated to retain the title in his first successful title defense. He would then begin a feud with Sabu over Taz's World Heavyweight Championship and Sabu's FTW Heavyweight Championship. The rivalry culminated in

3608-696: The World Heavyweight Championship, which he lost. In the DVD The Rise and Fall of ECW , Taz said that he signed with the WWE because he was in the top of the company and he lost his passion. After being contacted by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1999, Senercia ultimately signed for the WWF, where he was renamed "Tazz". Beginning in December 1999, what would become Tazz's symbol would play on

Taz (wrestler) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3696-559: The bout when Ian Rotten pinned Allen following a Rocket Launcher . The eighth bout was a tag team match pitting Don Muraco and Jimmy Snuka against the Public Enemy. Muraco and Snuka won the bout via forfeit. The ninth bout saw ECW Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas defend his title against Sabu , with Sabu announced as a replacement for the Sandman after he was shown unconscious backstage, implicitly having been attacked by Sabu's manager Paul E. Dangerously . After Douglas attempted to attack Dangerously at ringside, Sabu gave him

3784-591: The championship belt with him, and in a bizarre piece of professional wrestling history, ECW and WWF officials agreed to have Tazz, a WWF wrestler, make a surprise appearance at an ECW show to defeat Awesome, a WCW wrestler, for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Tazz held the title for ten days before losing it to Tommy Dreamer , during which time he wore it on various WWF shows, and including an episode of WWF SmackDown! where he lost to WWF Champion Triple H . However, Vince McMahon later expressed some regret over booking Tazz to lose to Triple H. After he lost

3872-533: The checks were not coming, he gave TNA his notice and that was it. He said that he would have liked to make a little bit more money but then again everyone felt like that and despite not making the most he was happy from the financial side of things". In November 2016, Taz made an appearance on the WWE Network special, The Authentic Untold Story of ECW , alongside former ECW management Paul Heyman and wrestlers Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley, and Tommy Dreamer. In

3960-427: The commentary team on AEW Rampage beginning August 13, 2021. In June 2022, Taz switched to full-time commentary on AEW Dynamite , in a commentary team rotation swap with Jim Ross . Taz's character was influenced by The Missing Link , The Steiner Brothers and The Wild Samoans . Taz is nicknamed the "Human Suplex Machine" due to his wide array of suplex variations he would utilise in matches. His finishing move,

4048-476: The company, Tazz became the permanent color commentator for the SmackDown brand once again. On April 3, 2009, WWE announced that Tazz had left WWE when his contract had expired before WrestleMania 25 . Two days later after his departure from WWE, his WWE.com profile was moved from the active SmackDown roster list to the alumni list for a short time before being completely removed, and confirming his departure from

4136-617: The company. In October 2018, Senercia talked about what led to his WWE departure stating "I left on my own terms. My contract was up the week going into WrestleMania, I wasn't there. That was it. I was done at the Dallas TV before that...They offered me a new deal, which was a great deal...I had to get out of there....I saw Vince in Dallas and I officially gave word, shook his hand, said I was leaving in Dallas. He and I were crying and hugging, 'I'm gonna miss you.' I thanked him for everything. It

4224-432: The count for Alfonso. In his post-match promo, he claimed that no one was looking after him while he was injured and that no one cared (though Heyman was still paying him, the kayfabe story was that he had been forgotten and that Alfonso was the one helping him keep food on his family's table). He was also angry that Sabu was brought back in that very night. Taz returned to the ring on December 19, 1995 at Holiday Hell with

4312-475: The disposition of that elitist attitude, it got to the point where I was like, 'you know what?..I'm out.'" At Victory Road , Senercia, under his Taz ring name, made his official Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) debut during Samoa Joe 's match against Sting , revealing himself to be Joe's on-screen adviser and consequently a heel as well as an ally of the Main Event Mafia . The match ending

4400-635: The event to catapult Sabu to the top of the promotion. On the first night, Sabu defeated the Tazmaniac; he was led to the ring on a gurney wearing chains to establish his character. During the match, Sabu's "daredevil tactics" won him the favor of the ECW crowd. On the second night, Sabu defeated Shane Douglas for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship . Heyman also used the event to build sympathy for Tommy Dreamer by having him repeatedly kick-out before being pinned by The Tazmaniac. NWA Bloodfest has been described as marking

4488-420: The event was Joey Styles , whose commentary was added following the event in post-production. Excerpts from the event aired on episodes #26 to #31 of ECW Hardcore TV , ECW's syndicated television program, in October and November 1993. The event saw the debut of Sabu , the Tazmaniac (the future "Taz") , and Tommy Dreamer - all of who would go on to be ECW mainstays - as well as the Bad Breed . Heyman used

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4576-404: The event were Jim Molineaux and John Finnegan. The opening bout was a tag team match in which the Bad Breed , who were making their ECW debut, defeated Chad Austin and Todd Shaw. The second bout was a singles match in which Rockin' Rebel defeated Don E. Allen by pinfall following a spinebuster . Following the match, Rockin' Rebel brawled with Chris Michaels at ringside, setting up

4664-431: The inaugural) FTW Heavyweight Champion , and the fourth ECW Triple Crown Champion . In 1999, Taz left ECW to join the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) where he was renamed "Tazz". After largely retiring from the ring in 2002, he transitioned into a color commentary role. Upon leaving WWE in 2009, Taz joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as a color commentator. He left TNA in 2015. In 2019, Taz joined

4752-482: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which

4840-456: The match, leading to a title defense against Buh Buh Ray Dudley in a falls count anywhere match in the main event later that night, which Taz won to retain the title. Taz then successfully defended the title against Candido on the June 4 episode of Hardcore TV to end the rivalry. Taz made his next successful title defense against Spike Dudley in a Falls Count Anywhere match on the June 25 episode of Hardcore TV . He would begin feuding with

4928-443: The match. The third bout was a Singles match in which Kevin Sullivan defeated Gino Caruso by pinfall. The fourth bout saw ECW Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas defend his title against J.T. Smith. Douglas won the bout after Terry Funk - who had accompanied Smith to ringside - threw in a towel while Douglas was applying a figure-four leglock to Smith. The fifth bout was a tag team match between Badd Company and

5016-654: The members of Steve Corino 's new rising stable , primarily Yoshihiro Tajiri . Taz successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Tajiri at Hostile City Showdown , the Heat Wave pay-per-view and the September 3 episode of ECW on TNN . During that time, Taz signed with the World Wrestling Federation , before he losing the ECW title as the first man to be eliminated in a three-way dance by Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka at Anarchy Rulz . This ended his eight-month reign at 252 days. As he walked out of

5104-570: The men. Following his neck injury, Taz made appearances with the Steiner Brothers , even standing in their corner during matches with The Eliminators and getting physical with Jason . It was at the November to Remember event, when Taz turned heel and joined up with referee Bill Alfonso . Working as the special referee for Alfonso's match with ECW commissioner Tod Gordon , Taz refused to count to three and assaulted Gordon, then making

5192-419: The one-hour special hosted by Corey Graves , the guests talked about their experiences in ECW and the promotion's legacy on professional wrestling. On October 12, 2019, Taz made a guest appearance for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he appeared on the October 22 edition of AEW Dark as a guest commentator. On November 9, 2019, Taz made his guest appearance during Full Gear as the pre-show commentator. On

5280-455: The onset of the "more darkly violent direction" for ECW under Heyman's leadership. Heyman used the event to condition the audience to accept that "there really are no bad guys or good guys ", noting "in every segment the guy that they didn't want to win won". NWA Bloodfest: Part 1 was held on October 1, 1993 in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania in the United States. It was attended by approximately 250 people. The referees for

5368-465: The original ECW. He stated that the original ECW worked because "It was that era, that group of people, that leader in Paul Heyman. We were that little engine that could." In August 2008, Tazz filled in for Mick Foley as a color commentator on the SmackDown brand after Edge attacked Foley in the previous week, while Raw wrestler Matt Striker filled in for Tazz on the ECW brand. When Foley left

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5456-485: The other Alliance members. Despite this mistreatment, Tazz would still speak positively about Austin and The Alliance as a whole while on commentary. He eventually left the stable after he finally stood up to Austin and attacked Paul Heyman in the weeks leading up to Survivor Series, where The Alliance lost to Team WWF. With injuries mounting, Tazz began performing part-time commentary on Sunday Night Heat in October 2000. His first pay-per-view announcement appearance

5544-561: The prefix "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Numerous boxers have used ring names or nicknames as their mode of identification during their professional boxing careers, particularly during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The ring name "Kid" was particularly popular, indicating the boxer's comparative youth. Since the mid 20th century, ring names for boxers have typically been less common, although nicknames have become more popular in recent years. Famous examples of boxers who used ring names include: NWA Bloodfest NWA Bloodfest

5632-561: The rest of his career. In the early 1990s as The Tazmaniac, he wrestled for International World Class Championship Wrestling (IWCCW) and held its Light Heavyweight Championship for six months in 1991. He would follow Tony Rumble in leaving IWCCW to join the newly established Century Wrestling Alliance (CWA). He would also tour in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Senerchia had his first World Wrestling Federation (WWF) match on August 19, 1991 as The Tazmaniac, when he

5720-537: The ring to squash former rival Jerry Lawler at ECW One Night Stand . During the recording of the April 29, 2008 episode of ECW , Tazz's broadcast partner Mike Adamle abruptly walked off set prior to the main event. Moments later, after reading the promo for the upcoming pay-per-view, Tazz walked out as well, leaving the main event with no commentators. On December 13, 2010, Tazz joined Right After Wrestling and said that it "pisses him off" when companies try to re-create

5808-426: The ring, a large portion of the ECW locker room joined him on the entrance ramp to give him an emotional sendoff. After being off of ECW television for most of the fall, he wrestled one final match as an ECW performer at November to Remember , losing to Rob Van Dam via pinfall . Taz's final televised match in ECW aired on the November 13 episode of Hardcore TV , in which he received a rematch against Mike Awesome for

5896-607: The role of a manager, establishing himself as a heel in the process. Cage would win the match, which also made him the number one contender for the AEW World Championship , and Taz celebrated the victory with him afterwards. On Night 2 of Fyter Fest , Taz rewarded Cage with the FTW Championship he held during his later years in ECW. At Fight for the Fallen , Cage lost to Jon Moxley after Taz threw in

5984-480: The time—as they remember it. In February 2006, Tazz and his SmackDown! broadcasting partner, Michael Cole , hosted a week-long trial run of a show on Howard 101 on Sirius Satellite Radio , but the show was not picked up. He also hosted a talk show on 92.3 Free FM at sporadic intervals between late summer 2006 and early 2007, but it was not picked up and the station changed formats, replacing all post morning programming with music. On June 11, 2006, Taz returned to

6072-444: The title against all comers, including Douglas, Lance Storm , John Kronus , Al Snow , Jerry Lynn and Chris Candido . Throughout late 1997, Taz began feuding with The Triple Threat in addition to Sabu and Van Dam, where he sometimes teamed up with Tommy Dreamer during the feud. At November to Remember , he issued a challenge to World Heavyweight Champion Bam Bam Bigelow. The two would eventually meet, after Bigelow turned on Taz in

6160-435: The towel. Soon after, Taz would recruit Ricky Starks to create a group known as Team Taz along with Cage as they began feuding with Darby Allin . On the November 18, 2020 episode of Dynamite , Will Hobbs joined Team Taz after hitting Cody Rhodes with Cage's FTW championship belt and then helping Taz, Cage and Starks when they attacked Rhodes and Allin. On August 4, 2021, it was announced that Taz would permanently join

6248-590: The upstart AEW promotion, where he once again provided color commentary as well as managing Team Taz , a stable that included his son Tyler "Hook" Senerchia . Senerchia began wrestling in World Wrestling Council (WWC) and made his professional wrestling debut on June 3, 1987 in San Juan, Puerto Rico , after being trained by Johnny Rodz . He wrestled as Kid Krush before moving on to the name The Tazmaniac , of which he would use variations for

6336-409: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude

6424-527: Was a professional wrestling live event produced by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) on October 1 and October 2, 1993. The event was held in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania in the United States. NWA Bloodfest was the second ECW event to be produced by Paul Heyman , who had taken over booking of the promotion from Tod Gordon earlier that year. The commentator for

6512-474: Was a nationally syndicated morning radio personality, co-hosting Taz and The Moose with Marc "The Moose" Malusis on CBS Sports Radio weekdays from 6-9 a.m. Eastern. In December 2019, Senerchia announced he was leaving the show. Senerchia also had his own podcast, called The Taz Show , (formerly known as The Human Podcast Machine) , where he discusses the latest in the professional wrestling world. The show has since discontinued. Senerchia (as Taz) appears as

6600-531: Was all professional and he left the proper way. He revealed that his deal was up in the Summer anyway and was already looking into alternatives and the way he said it was that he was not going to renew his deal anyway even though TNA wanted him to stay. He confirmed the reports that payments were not coming in and his checks came late and had to do what he had to do. "I did a service, I wasn't paid for that service," Taz said, adding that TNA understood his situation. Once

6688-584: Was booked as Taz's presence enabling Joe to recover from Sting's Scorpion Deathlock and win the match via submission after applying the Coquina Clutch . On the August 20, 2009 episode of Impact! , Taz replaced Don West as the promotion's color commentator and also became a face upon stating that he was only loosely associated with the Mafia and that he had taught Joe everything he knew and that it

6776-859: Was defeated by Ray Odyssey . He then made his only appearance ever in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) when he defeated Joey Maggs in a dark match at a Saturday Night taping in Atlanta, Georgia on February 8, 1993. He would then make his second appearance in the WWF on May 5, 1993. Wrestling in a dark match at a Wrestling Challenge taping in Portland, ME, Tazmaniac would beat Scott Taylor . He would go on to make two additional appearances on house shows in New Jersey on June 29 and June 30, losing to Jim Powers on each occasion. Wrestling as "The Tazmaniac", Senerchia debuted in

6864-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as

6952-565: Was during Rebellion in December 2000, announcing alongside Jim Ross . He joined the SmackDown! team in February 2001 after Jerry Lawler quit the company, as well as becoming one of the trainers for the joint WWF/ MTV produced reality series Tough Enough . Lawler returned to the company on November 19, 2001 and resumed his place as commentator, with Tazz becoming both a wrestler and a commentator. In January 2002, he and Spike Dudley won

7040-555: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with

7128-435: Was great. I remember talking to Stephanie [McMahon] and Triple H……Stephanie was just looking at me, 'I'm really surprised. Why are you doing this?' She couldn't understand why I would leave. She wasn't mean. She wasn't disrespectful. 'I need to do this. I appreciate everything you've done for me. There's no ill will.' She was the same way with me. So was Hunter. They were extremely awesome to me; but, like an adult to an adult she

7216-425: Was growing, as Taz attacked Sabu's partner, Rob Van Dam, costing the team matches with The Eliminators and other teams. In the months leading to ECW's first pay-per-view , Taz would choke out low-level wrestlers with the Tazmission due to viewing his matches as secondary to his rivalry with Sabu. He then dominated another series of matches with Van Dam before meeting Sabu at Barely Legal , where Taz defeated him with

7304-486: Was in the ring, across from Taz. This was the first time they had been in the ring together since early 1995. Before they could lock up, the lights went out again. During Sabu's match, where he teamed with Rob Van Dam to face The Eliminators and The Gangstas in a three-way dance, Taz attempted to attack his former partner, but Van Dam saved Sabu and was choked out in the aisle. This distraction caused Sabu to get hit with Total Elimination and his team lost. Taz also began

7392-401: Was just wondering why and I was, 'I just need a break'". In April 2020, Senercia further reflected his other reasons for his WWE departure stating "I didn't want to be around anybody named McMahon at that time, They were annoying, and it was the pompous, the arrogance. But the arrogance, not politics, the arrogance. That's what I keep saying. That's the adjective that keeps jumping out at me. Just

7480-503: Was never dangerous with his suplexes". Senerchia is of Italian descent . He is the cousin of fellow retired professional wrestler Chris Chetti . Senerchia is married to Teresa Smith, and together they have one son, Tyler Cole (born May 4, 1999), who is also a professional wrestler better known under the ring name Hook. Tyler has trained with Cody Rhodes and made several appearances in AEW as part of his father's stable Team Taz , debuting in action on December 10, 2021. Senerchia has

7568-431: Was now up to Joe to use his newfound skills. In May 2012, Taz began appearing as a judge in the monthly TNA Gut Check segment on Impact Wrestling . On the January 17, 2013 episode of Impact Wrestling , Taz was a groomsman at the wedding between Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan . As Ray and Brooke exchanged their vows, Taz interrupted the ceremony and proclaimed himself to be a member of Aces & Eights after revealing

7656-500: Was on the horizon. At that "big show", he guaranteed that Sabu would finally face him. Later that night, he came out to force Scorpio to leave the ring and went on an angry tirade, abusing Bob Artese and holding him hostage in the ring. Taz demanded Sabu come out and face him, and twice even led the crowd in a "Sabu, Sabu" chant to get him to enter the ring. Several officials and wrestlers came out and Taz eventually got his hands on Paul E. The lights went out and when they came back on, Sabu

7744-468: Was soon picked up by other companies throughout the country. Heading into the summer, Taz began feuding with Tommy Dreamer, joining up with Brian Lee to face Dreamer and Terry Gordy and later Dreamer and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Taz also developed a friendship with The Eliminators, based on mutual respect, and they occasionally involved themselves in his matches. Perry Saturn and Taz were both trainers at ECW's House of Hardcore wrestling school. For

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